Despite Burrito’s 32 years of age, he acts like a kid more often than not (and brings out the kid in us).
Cle Elum 7
Another Sunny Day and Time Spent on Young’s Hill
Sometimes looks can be deceiving. The sun was shining bright this morning, but there was still frost on the ground and a chill in the air. I figured the chimpanzees would wait for the temperature to rise a little before they would spend a good chunk of time on Young’s Hill, but that wasn’t the case this morning.
Volunteer caregiver Patti served breakfast in the Greenhouse and had just finished serving chow bags as I opened the door between the Greenhouse and Young’s Hill. Jody was actually waiting right by the door and walked out onto the hill, positioned herself in the sun and ate the contents of her first chow bag. Her breath was visible as the temperature was still in the 20’s.
Annie soon followed Jody outside and sat on the logs to eat her chow.
Missy followed Annie outside and took a few moments to sit on the logs and check out the scene.
After finishing her first bag of chow, Jody made her way further up Young’s Hill before returning to her previous spot. On the way back down the hill, Jody greeted Missy who was on her way up the hill.
Next to venture out onto Young’s Hill was Foxie, accompanied by her dear troll friend. She chose to enjoy her chow bags from the top of the platform in the sunshine.
Jamie chose to finish her chow bags inside the Greenhouse before venturing out onto the hill. She walked around, stopping to listen to the ducks who were making noise nearby.
Negra chose to enjoy her morning chow bags in the sun as well, just inside of the Greenhouse where it was warmer.
Burrito on the other hand, spent most of his morning on top of the platform in the Greenhouse (possibly enjoying the quiet as most of the ladies were on the Hill).
I’ll never get tired of seeing these chimpanzees on Young’s Hill, where they can actually feel the grass below them and the warmth of the sunshine on their faces.
Annie’s bird noises
I just posted this video to our Facebook page:
Annie loves to relax on her back. Today I not only caught her making her “bird noises,” but also snapped a quick photo of her tongue sticking out a little bit—which just adds to her endearing personality.
President’s Day Equals Jamie’s Day
Since today is President’s Day, we decided to make it all about the “president” of this group of chimpanzees. As many of you may know by now, Jamie is the leader; the one to call the shots around here. She is certainly one of the most determined, demanding, project orientated ladies I know. So, today’s enrichment was focused around Jamie’s love of boots, brushes, scarves and walks around Young’s Hill.
When I arrived this morning, I went in to greet the chimpanzees and Jamie had tied a scarf around her neck. Apparently she knew it was boss day and was dressed for the occasion. She drew the line at me taking any photo evidence though. Burrito may have known it was going to be her day today because he spent the better part of yesterday late afternoon grooming Jamie in the Greenhouse and joined her in a walk around Young’s Hill.
Here’s the two of them sitting next to one another looking out onto Young’s Hill.
And here’s Jamie rescuing Foxie’s troll dolls this afternoon. She spotted them on the ground near the top of Young’s Hill (I think Foxie left them there yesterday when she went for a walk), picked them up, sniffed them and decided to carry them back to the Greenhouse with her. Once in the Greenhouse she dropped them and walked back outside to go for another walk around the hill.
The Day After
All the excitement from yesterday’s big Valentine’s Day celebration has left the chimpanzees pretty quiet today. All of them spent time on Young’s Hill (some a little longer than others) in the sunshine. And this afternoon, most of them relaxed in the Greenhouse.
Jamie, as you may have guessed, took quite a few walks around Young’s Hill, before grooming her boots in the Greenhouse this afternoon. After our morning cleaning, I put on two black boots and went out to accompany her. I must have took too long because when I went outside, she and Missy were already at the top of the hill. Once she saw me, she walked back down to meet me (Missy took off running) and we continued back up the hill.
Missy accompanied Jamie on a few of her perimeter patrols, half the time walking, half the time running. After that, she spent time chewing on an alfalfa cube in the Greenhouse.
As you may have guessed already, Foxie spent her afternoon with her troll and dora dolls.
Jody took a little time to stretch her arms from the tire swing. She also inspected the tree to see if there were any leftovers from yesterday’s party, although by the angle of the photo it seems she was deep in thought.
Annie was all about kicking her feet up and relaxing in the Greenhouse.
Burrito followed up his walk around Young’s Hill by sitting in the doorway leading from the Greenhouse to outside, looking out.
And Negra. She went outside for a few moments, looked up to the sky before going back into the Greenhouse, where she could be sheltered from the cool breeze. Unfortunately, for photo purposes, she spent her time on top of the platform out of camera reach. But here’s one of her resting in one of her favorite spots in the Playroom.
Thanks too all those who helped share the love for these beautiful chimpanzees!
Sanctuary is love.
Today has been all about love! We threw a big party in the greenhouse for Valentine’s Day with the help of decorations and enrichment donated by Lisa S., Carol M., and volunteer Patti—plus delicious food donated by Anne R. and Patti, including some tasty buckwheat waffles with walnuts and carrots. They smelled delicious! Patti excluded the sugar and salt from the recipe, but the chimpanzees didn’t mind one bit. They wolfed them down!
Here’s some photos from the set-up:
During the party, Foxie started to whimper a little bit. Jamie swooped in and comforted her and even shared a waffle piece with her. Now that is love! Jamie is the boss of the group, and in the chimp world, that means she doesn’t have to share anything if she doesn’t want to. In fact, she can take anything from anyone to assert her dominance. So for her to share something with Foxie is a true gesture of friendship.
Negra especially loved the waffles:
Jamie loved the drinks—we had red gatorade watered down plus smoothie in little shot glasses!
Foxie:
Jody:
We all appreciate your gestures of friendship and love for the chimpanzees and are blown away with how we surpassed our Share the Chimp Love goal! It warms our hearts to know that these chimpanzees mean so much to all of you that you would share your generosity with them.
note: Patty Clark’s name should have also been included in the heart above!
You all have played a part in a second chance at life for these chimpanzees.
As supporter Kathleen C. put it in her sponsor-a-day message for today, “Sanctuary is love.” Just watch the video below to see how much love they had for sanctuary today!
And here’s the final Share the Chimp Love image of what love is for Negra
Today is for chimp love
Today we celebrate love, not only in it’s countless beautiful forms, but also for what it makes possible. And making this day even more special, a day of sanctuary love was sponsored for the chimpanzees by both Kathleen Corby and Secrette Miller.
I don’t think I could ever sum up all the love we have in our hearts for the chimpanzees and the gratitude we have that they are able to live the lives they do. Kathleen shared this heartfelt message which definitely speaks for us all:
“I love Missy, Annie, Negra, Burrito, Jamie, Jody and Foxie. Why not celebrate their life in Sanctuary on The Day of LOVE?! I cannot fathom what their lives must have been like during the decades before they arrived at CSNW. I have great respect and admiration for what they had to overcome and for who they are today. May love and generosity fill every day of their lives. And may the Cle Elum Seven always serve as an example of the importance that all captive chimpanzees deserve the right to live a life full of good health, comfort and care, choices, friendships, and LOVE. Sanctuary is love. Let’s all celebrate our CSNW Love today!”
Kathleen and Secrette, thank you so much for sponsoring such a special day for the chimpanzees and for all that you both do to give them a life full of love. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Speaking of love, we’ve received a lot of it over the past two weeks during our Share the Chimp Love campaign. So much, that we increased our goal! Joan and Pat Borders, who gave us a generous $2,500 gift early on in the fundraising made another $1,000 gift, and yesterday we received a $1,000 gift from the Armstrong Family as well, pushing us well beyond our original goal of $12,000. Now we have just $209 to go to reach our new goal of $14,000 on the 14th! Many thanks to EVERYONE who has donated! For those who haven’t, there’s still time! You can make a gift for a loved one, yourself, or just to celebrate love.
For inspiration, here are some photos of the chimps celebrating love:
Annie and Missy:
Negra:
Burrito:
Jody:
Foxie and Dora:
Jamie:
Be sure to check the blog later today to see the chimpanzees’ 2015 Valentine’s Day celebration!
